I don’t recall who was the first to define “history” as “lies agreed upon.” The History Channel’s gloss of Lincoln reminded me of the classic line uttered by a journalist in the movie “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” who, after being made aware of the truth of that event, declared: “when the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
I find it remarkable that otherwise intelligent people can continue to babble the nonsense that the Civil War was a reaffirmation of the principles of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration was written as a justification for political secession; the Civil War was a denial of that principle and a statement on behalf of a ruthless statism.
While slavery cannot be defended by any lover of liberty, it remains evident – at least to those who insist upon the supremacy of “fact” over “legend” – that the Civil War was no more fought to end slavery than the present war in Iraq is being fought to extend “freedom.” Nor did the Civil War – or the 13th Amendment – end slavery: they only nationalized it.
12:25 am on January 20, 2005
